Arne Slot said Liverpool were close to perfection in his side’s 2-0 win over Manchester City.
Liverpool sent a huge statement with victory over the Premier League champions on Sunday, a result that takes the Reds nine points clear at the top of the division.
Slot’s side started the game at a frenetic pace and Cody Gakpo deservedly put Liverpool in front after 12 minutes, as the Dutchman bundled in Mohamed Salah’s cross from close range.
Virgil van Dijk and Salah were guilty of missing good chances for Liverpool, who dominated for much of the contest, before the latter sealed the win with a second-half spot-kick.
Liverpool lead the title race by nine points – and sit 11 points clear of Manchester City – after arguably their best performance of Slot’s time in charge. The Dutchman admitted his side played a game that was close to perfect.
“Yeah [it was almost a perfect match], and if you look at work-rate I think it was perfect. The amount of chances we miss made it tight at the end. But maybe that’s nice for matches like this. It should be like this. But it would have been nicer to score the second goal earlier,” he said to Sky Sports.
“We always press high but they’re so good at build-up. So you have to work very hard. Our players had energy. Apart from our players, the crowd was fantastic today as well.
“They always make it difficult for you in the way they position. It’s not only formation. Nine out of 10 times it’s the quality of the players. We have some quality players on the pitch too.
“We’re a compatible team and it’s difficult to beat us. But also we have to put the effort in. But we have injuries. We had to take Trent off. It would have been a risk. These are the challenges we face at the moment but every team has to face these challenges over a season.
“Next week is another big week against Newcastle and Everton.
“Ideally I would have loved to have seen the second half being the same as the first half. But the quality of the other team…
“If you want to win against City you have to be perfect in every part of the game. High press, low press, build-up. They bring so many problems to you. We came close to perfection, we weren’t perfect but we came close to perfection. That’s the only way to beat a quality team like City.
“I don’t think anyone, including me, would have predicted this [start]. I knew Jurgen [Klopp] left the team in a very good place. But still, to win so much with all the difficult teams we have played already is not something you could predict at the start of the season.
“But, like I say, I saw Arsenal yesterday and Chelsea today and I saw City, they will come back because these teams have so much quality. They could go on the same run as us. So we have to stay sharp and focused.”
What next for Liverpool?
Liverpool next travel to face Newcastle United in the Premier League on Wednesday night, before welcoming Everton to Anfield for the Merseyside Derby on Saturday lunchtime.
